A salute to Feichter's toughness

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Shortly after Purdue's Wednesday practice concluded, senior safety Landon Feichter stood off to the side as he waited to speak with reporters.

Feichter held both of his hands out and gave a grimacing look at each. Both were wrapped heavily, almost looking like boxing gloves. Hey, Landon, what happened to your hands?

"I hurt them," Feichter said with a smile. "But I'll be ready by game time."

Later, Feichter was asked if either of his hands were broken.

"I'll be ready by game time," he quickly responded, again offering a grin.

Fortunately for reporters, Feichter's head coach isn't one to hide anything. When Darrell Hazell was asked what has been ailing Feichter, he confirmed the safety has two broken hands.

Both of his hands are broken.

That's not going to slow down Feichter, who will make his 16th career start at safety against Indiana State. This is one bad dude.

The injuries occurred in Purdue's loss to Cincinnati. The first hand was hurt on a tackle in which Feichter was low to the ground and his thumb was caught in the turf. Not long after that, his other hand was smashed up against a helmet.

This past week wasn't easy for Feichter. He struggled to do simple, everyday tasks. Before practices this week, Landon had his younger brother, Evan, put his socks on for him.

"It's the little things," Feichter explained. "I can do it, but it's just easier for somebody to help me out."

But Landon won't have little brother—his backup on the depth chart—help him out on the field Saturday. He's not missing this game, even if the opponent is a middling FCS school. Such toughness merits some sort of award.

I wouldn't know where to begin researching whether a football player has ever seen game action with two broken hands, but my bet says it hasn't happened too often.

Kudos, Landon.

The most impressive part about this is how Feichter proved in practice he can actually be effective with the glove-like wrapping on each hand. He's still that same threat in the secondary, and Indiana State should be concerned.

Can you imagine if Feichter gets an interception? I can say with great certainty that would be the first dual-broken-handed pick in college football history. The Big Ten better dole out some sort of award for that.

Every football coach wants tough players. Darrell Hazell has one in his senior safety.

Landon Feichter deserves a hardy handshake. Or maybe a fist bump would be better.

Chris Emma has covered recruiting, college athletics and professional baseball for FOX Sports Next since 2009. Emma covered the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Northwestern Wildcats, and currently covers the Purdue Boilermakers. A Chicago native, he resides in West Lafayette. Facebook | Twitter|
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